Demand for business networking events and conferences has more than doubled in the UK this year, while social corporate events have seen a decline, according to venue-finding service Venue Reservations.

In 2012, the business, which is owned by the Crown Group, has taken more than 62 per cent of its enquiries from companies looking to hold a networking event or business summit, compared to 29 per cent during the same period last year.

Charles Beer, managing partner of the Crown Group, warned that while the figures look encouraging, it doesn’t paint the whole picture. He said: “It is true that there has been an increase in enquiries for business-related functions, however, this has been at the expense of more social-related corporate events. We are seeing more enquiries for combined events, where a company holds a regular business function and followed by a social element afterwards.”

Beer added: “This not only saves the cost of holding two separate events but also sends a very different message out to the wider world. Solely social corporate events in times of austerity aren’t deemed to be as acceptable as they once were, so holding a combined event is the approach many companies are now taking.”

The analysis also found that demand for more standing reception-style events more than doubled over the last year, increasing from 25 per cent in 2011 to 57 per cent in 2012.